NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – A surge of pro-Palestinian demonstrations has swept across university campuses in the United States this week, resulting in the arrests of hundreds of individuals.
At Columbia University in New York, a focal point of the protests, students have vowed not to disperse until the institution severs its ties with Israeli academic entities and divests from organizations linked to Israel. Similar demands have been echoed at other universities hosting protests.
The protests have attracted a diverse group of students from various backgrounds, including Palestinians, Arabs, Jews, and Muslims, united in their condemnation of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
In the latest updates:
– Columbia University’s faculty senate is scheduled to vote on a resolution censuring university president Minouche Shafik for her handling of the protests. Criticism has been directed at Shafik for authorizing police intervention to halt the demonstrations on campus.
– Brown University has identified approximately 130 students allegedly violating school conduct codes prohibiting encampments on campus. Disciplinary action will vary based on individual behavior and prior infractions.
– At Emory University, 28 arrests were made, with pepper balls deployed by troopers to disperse the unruly crowd. Elected officials in Georgia denounced the use of excessive force during the arrests.
– Over 100 individuals were arrested, and four police officers were injured during an encampment clearing at Emerson College in Boston. The college’s president recognized the passion driving the protest.
– Indiana University reported the detention of at least 33 individuals following encampment protests on campus.
– The University of Southern California canceled its main commencement ceremony due to safety concerns, with nearly 100 arrests made on campus.
– A demonstration with encampments formed at UCLA, and an encampment also appeared at Northeastern University in Boston, where protesters formed a human chain around several tents.
Many other campuses, including MIT, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, University of New Mexico, UC Berkeley, Yale, and Harvard, have also seen student-led protests in recent days.